Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 576 - 559: Cake

Xiongjing, Demon City Army Headquarters.

Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong stood in front of the Commander-in-Chief’s office, knocked on the door, and entered.

"Commander." The two saluted Huang Xuan Pavilion inside.

Huang Xuan Pavilion was about forty to fifty years old, appearing scholarly with a single strand of white hair, the rest shiny black.

His nose in profile was as straight as a blade, his eyes reflecting the light from the demonized screen.

He continuously processed information, speaking casually: "Sit, speak."

As the number one of the Demon City Army and one of the eleven highest-ranking members of the National Mansion, he had to handle a massive amount of important affairs every day.

Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong had used tremendous effort to arrange a time to return to Xiongjing from Rucheng.

"We came here for Zhou Leng."

"Hmm? How is his injury?"

Wang Boxiong showed a puzzled expression, while Chen Shouhu, being straightforward, said, "Commander, don’t you know he was framed and falsely accused, and it’s known all over the internet?"

"Hmm?" Huang Xuan Pavilion’s gaze left the screen and looked at the two.

"You don’t usually go online?"

"I don’t have the time." Huang Xuan Pavilion said.

"Our internal reports didn’t mention it either. The public opinion is so intense, yet your internal reports don’t include it?" Chen Shouhu asked.

Chen Shouhu was still bewildered, Wang Boxiong and Huang Xuan Pavilion exchanged a glance, instantly understanding.

Wang Boxiong quickly searched for information in the Demon Brain.

"First, tell me what happened."

Chen Shouhu, like a rapid-fire gun, recounted all the incidents of the past few days.

"Hmm? Someone mobilized the Supervision Team?"

The two nodded in unison.

Wang Boxiong slowly said, "I just checked, for all similar cases, regardless of the uproar they cause, there’s nothing in the internal reports. Even if someone reported it, it was deliberately suppressed, so some people aren’t aware of the changes in public opinion and the escalating social tensions."

Huang Xuan Pavilion glanced at Wang Boxiong.

If these words came from Chen Shouhu, he’d be considered straightforward.

But from Wang Boxiong’s mouth, it’s a piercing accusation.

To be polite, it’s making excuses for the Supreme Court. To be blunt, it’s criticizing them for being out of touch and just going through the motions.

Huang Xuan Pavilion, familiar with the two, gave Wang Boxiong a stern look and quickly flipped through relevant materials, especially those on Zhou Leng’s recent intelligence.

As he read, his face grew darker.

"Ridiculous!" Huang Xuan Pavilion muttered in a low voice.

Chen Shouhu said, "Commander, give us a direction. If even the Demon City Army doesn’t act, I can only take action as a Martial Artist."

Huang Xuan Pavilion looked ahead. After a long while, he said, "We cannot let heroes shed blood and tears."

"Alright, with those words from you, it’s settled." Chen Shouhu was about to speak of taking major action, but he turned to Wang Boxiong.

Huang Xuan Pavilion also looked at Wang Boxiong and asked, "What do you think?"

Wang Boxiong said, "The approach from above these years isn’t unknown to you. Without thorough action, solving this quietly won’t work—poison must be scraped from the bones."

"Is the situation that serious?" Huang Xuan Pavilion asked.

Wang Boxiong said, "I don’t believe you haven’t seen similar news in your younger days. I’m very curious, what did you think when you encountered such situations back then?"

Huang Xuan Pavilion tapped the table lightly with his right index finger and said, "Zhou Leng is a member of the Demon City Army. You two take the lead, form a special task force, and handle this matter. I will assign someone to assist, and no matter who the opposing party is, investigate thoroughly. Before the final action, notify me."

"Yes!" the two saluted in unison.

Wang Boxiong said, "There is one matter that requires your cooperation."

"Speak."

"I hope to commemorate the Battle of Shuizhou early and award the Grand Dragon Medal and National Hero honors to Zhou Leng in front of the Hero Monument."

Huang Xuan Pavilion said, "This matter has already been decided, involving multiple parties. Arbitrarily advancing it might be improper. Besides, the new year is approaching."

Huang Xuan Pavilion was only the number one of the Demon City Army, not the number one of the Martial Mansion.

The number one of the Martial Mansion is the number one in Dragon Country.

"With the Celestial Calamity Envoy pressing step by step, the Tree-man World is in jeopardy. Awarding honors early to boost morale would allow more time for preparation, avoiding being caught off guard and resulting in a disrupted ceremony."

Huang Xuan Pavilion vaguely understood Wang Boxiong’s intention, recalled Zhou Leng’s contributions, and nodded, "I will facilitate this matter. You set a date."

"December 23rd, the Little New Year."

Huang Xuan Pavilion looked at Wang Boxiong and said, "Agreed."

After bidding farewell to Huang Xuan Pavilion, Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong walked out. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"What’s your next move, Wang Huaixiong?" Chen Shouhu asked.

"Doesn’t Zhou Leng have titles in various circles? They often send annuities. Have someone notify them to send them together the day before the Little New Year."

"No problem. When will Zhou Leng’s war merits and full identity be made public?"

"Of course, in front of the Hero Monument, during the 7 PM news on Tian Vision."

Chen Shouhu inhaled sharply; as reckless as he was, he knew the gravity of the matter.

He said, "The media department... it’s always like Yan Wang, even Saint Zhao couldn’t handle them. How do we solve this?"

"They’ve forgotten; we must remind them that the knife can remain in the sheath, or it can rest against their neck." Wang Boxiong said.

"Excellent." Chen Shouhu smiled broadly.

Everything seemed calm.

Neither the Patrol nor the Supervision Team stepped in, and the Divine Literature General Hospital made no further moves.

All media blocked the news that Zhou Leng is a Divine Text Master, not a word was leaked.

Once any Intermediate Divine Text Researcher talks about it online, or someone posts a screenshot, it will be deleted immediately, and in severe cases, even their account will be banned.

Zhou Leng woke up, Zhao Nandi fed him food and pills like a caring sister.

Zhou Leng refused, but Zhao Nandi didn’t care and fed him forcefully.

After eating, sensing the Demonized Watch pop up a message, Zhou Leng picked it up, paused in mid-air, remained silent for a while, didn’t look, and put it back.

The Demonized Watch was too heavy.

"How do you explain it to your friends and family?" Zhao Nandi asked.

Zhou Leng said, "I’m on an important mission, can’t contact them."

Zhao Nandi looked at Zhou Leng quietly, sighing inwardly.

"Sister Nandidi, you should go back, there’s no need to stay here, it’s more comfortable being alone."

"I don’t want to stay, it’s the Divine Literature General Hospital that entrusted me to take full care of you, this... Mysterious Master." Zhao Nandi’s eyes flashed a hint of subtle anger and embarrassment.

Zhou Leng remembered the message he sent to Zhao Nandi before, and immediately said, "I’ll cultivate now."

With that, he closed his eyes and entered the Celestial Rank Trial Ground, adjusting the Second Layer of the trial.

Zhao Nandi watched Zhou Leng, her emotions stirred.

Time passed by, inside the trial space, Zhou Leng constantly performed trials, continuously modifying them to better suit the Blue Star Martial Artists.

This trial ground wasn’t named initially, but since it originated from the Shuizhou Demon City, it was named the Shuizhou Trial.

Inside the trial space, Zhou Leng seemed to return to the past, with a Dantian, meridians, and True Qi, everything flowed seamlessly.

Yet every time he left the trial space and returned to the hospital bed, feeling the emptiness of his body, a huge sense of disparity descended.

Even a suffocating feeling of having his throat squeezed.

"What a pity..."

Sometimes Zhou Leng would give up adjusting the trial space, because he suddenly realized, he didn’t even have Martial Arts, what significance does the trial space have for him?

Does such a world deserve a High-Level Civilization’s trial?

But thinking of all sorts of matters, recalling the disasters on Blue Star, remembering countless people in the mire, remembering the enormous threat humanity faced, he forced himself to muster the spirit to enter it.

Reaching a high difficulty score of 120 required a very long time.

To quickly adjust all the trials, Zhou Leng only adjusted to an intermediate difficulty, achieving an intermediate difficulty score of 120, then immediately moved to the next space.

The Void God teaching Martial Shadow Wall was left for later, after settling the trial ground.

Time quietly passed.

Occasionally, some videos or news would emerge, though not mentioning Zhou Leng, repeatedly portraying how miserable and depressed the victims were, with doctors, education experts, patrol, inspectors, etc., appearing for interviews.

These news pieces constantly remind the public that hell is empty, the Demon is among us.

Ruda and Rucheng continue to endure organized online harassment.

Gradually, people with various identities began to fabricate various false rumors about Zhou Leng, accusing him of things he never did.

Some claimed to be classmates, some neighbors, others relatives.

Unconsciously, most had accepted that Zhou Leng was utterly unforgivable and guilty beyond measure.

Only a very few who had experienced online baptisms, possessed rational logic, and held autonomous independent consciousness, because they hadn’t seen evidence till now, combined with having witnessed similar events, increasingly believed in Zhou Leng’s innocence.

But, they were powerless to resolve anything.

He Yin Martial Arts Academy.

Lv Yuanhao and a group of classmates who participated in the Celestial Tier Trial gathered together.

He silently smoked a cigarette and said, "Do you know why I would staunchly support Zhou Leng, even at odds with the school?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"When I was five years old, my family opened a bakery."

"Later, another bakery opened nearby. My dad’s baking skills were very high, used quality ingredients, never fooled around, almost everyone in the area were my family’s regular customers."

"The other bakery’s owner cut corners, had poor skills, liked to use various internet celebrities for promotion, and was particularly adept at advertising."

"But people aren’t fools, after eating for a while, naturally could differentiate the quality."

"So, a fair visiting foodie happened to compare the two bakeries, praised my family and criticized hers."

"You should have guessed what happened next, our bakery was packed, while hers had no customers."

"Not long after, that owner came to our home with her daughter, said she wanted to learn, spoke humbly, kept saying her hardships. My dad, very honest, saw she was alone with a child, felt sorry, so taught her carefully."

"But her bakery’s cakes never improved, because her intentions weren’t on baking at all, always thinking about scamming, and instead suspected my dad was withholding skills."

"Until one day, she called the police saying my dad assaulted her daughter, who was my age."

"The entire street was in uproar."

"In the end, patrol investigated several times, pulled the surveillance and found that my dad wasn’t even at the bakery that day, he went to purchase supplies."

"Moreover, surveillance proved her daughter was always on the first floor that day, never left the surveillance range, there were no signs of assault."

"The forensic expert also confirmed there were no signs proving the child was harmed."

"I thought, the matter would end here."

"Instead, that owner fabricated rumors online, claiming my dad assaulted her daughter, produced all sorts of fake evidence."

"The whole internet was outraged, countless people rushed to my home, blocked the entrance, smashed the glass, threw eggs, forcing our family to close the shop."

"That owner successfully gained sympathy, attracting a large number of sympathizers to buy her cakes."

"But bad-tasting is just bad-tasting, her customers decreased eventually."

"Without our bakery, still no one wanted to eat her crap."

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